Founder

Chase R. Michalek is an executive and entrepreneur with a successful track record of starting, acquiring, growing and leading companies in the Veterinary Services industry.

He has started two platform companies that separately focus on opening Specialty Veterinary Practices and opening/acquiring General Veterinary Practices, along with investing in companies that support these organizations through management, ancillary tech-enabled services, and real estate.

Chase currently serves as the Co-Founder and CEO of VSx Veterinary Surgery, a Specialty Veterinary group that partners with board-certified veterinary surgeons to open and operate specialty surgical centers, providing advanced surgical treatment and care for referring veterinarians’ patients.

Prior to his current roles, Chase co-founded and led Family Vet Group (FVG), a modern veterinary services platform that built a group of regional animal hospitals across the country with over 200 employees. Chase started the company after business school and created a network of practices and veterinary professionals that delivered personalized, tech-enabled care while fostering a culture of compassion, teamwork, and entrepreneurship. FVG recorded industry leading organic growth through its opening of new hospitals (“de novo”) and acquisition + remodel/relocation of existing practices (“acqui-novo”), while also taking a stake in developing and owning the underlying real estate. Three years after the company’s inception, FVG was acquired by a strategic buyer, Heartland Vet Partners, in a competitive process. Chase worked closely with the Heartland team for a year after the acquisition to successfully integrate the FVG practices and teams into the business.

Prior to founding FVG, Chase was an Associate at Cressey & Company, a healthcare-focused private equity firm based in Chicago. His primary responsibility was to help identify, evaluate, and execute investment opportunities in the healthcare services sector. Prior to joining Cressey & Company, Chase worked as a Financial Analyst for J.P. Morgan's Investment Banking Group in Chicago where he focused on mergers & acquisitions, strategic advisory, and capital raising assignments across various sectors, mainly in Consumer/Retail, Diversified Industrials, and Healthcare.

Chase earned a BBA in Finance from Southern Methodist University and an MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.

Chase, grew up in the northern suburbs of Chicago and recently relocated his family to Nashville. Chase loves spending time with his family and the magic of seeing the world through the eyes of his kids.

Chase co-authored and co-teaches a case in the Launching and Scaling Startups class with Professor Carter Cast at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management. He is a member of YPO in the Southern 7 Chapter and sits on the Board for SMU’s Alternative Asset Management Center.